How to enable MS Fakes generating in TFS 2017 VS Build Test-step without installation of Visual Studio on build server?
I know there is a way by copying some files from developer machine to the build Server but it doesn't seem right.
There is also "VS Build Tools 2017" that distributes some targets and references for build process without full VS stand alone installed, but it still doesn't include Fakes support!
Is there any package for that so I could install it without silly per file copying, wihtout VS and my own licence on server?
Afraid there is no way to bypass this, you have to install visual studio and need an Enterprise edition , unfortunately.
Have a look at this article in the Test section: https://www.visualstudio.com/vs/compare/ . If you could simply add some free packages, there is no need to restrict users only use visual studio enterprise edition for Microsoft Fakes (Unit Test Isolation) support.
Related
Currently we only have Visual Studio 2015 installed on our TFS build server. I'd like to put VS 2017 and VS 2019 onto the build server.
Does that mean I need to install all possible workloads for both of them, in the build server?
The best practice is to simulate the build server to the developer machine, so it's good to install all the workloads that installed on the VS in the developer machine.
If you don't want, you can install only Visual Studio Build Tools, it allows you to build VS projects. but sometimes if the developer wrote some specific code in specific workload that build tools not support it, the TFS build will fail.
I am trying to replicate my development environment into my build server in order to debug an error that occurs only in the build server, The same solution is compiled with msbuild that is located in C:\Program Files (x86)\MSBuild\14.0\Bin\MSBuild.exe in both machines.
In the development machine, the solution is getting compiled successfully while in the build server it fails.
Reading the outputs from msbuild I noticed that in both machines the build is done with different versions of Microsoft build engine
dev machine: 14.0.25420.1
build server:14.0.23107.0
In order to rule out that this error relates to the version
I tried to pass the msbuild from the dev machine to the build server and ran it there which output the build server version.
How can the same msbuild yield different version on a different machine?
How can I update the build engine?
How can the same msbuild yield different version on a different machine?
According to the official blog MSBuild is now part of Visual Studio!:
Starting with Visual Studio 2013, the 2013 version of MSBuild will
ship as a part of Visual Studio instead of the .NET Framework.
So at this moment, MSBuild.exe have the same version of Visual Studio 2015, you can check the version of Visual Studio 2015:
So update the version of Visual Studio on the build server to have the same version MSBuild.exe.
Update for comment:
Is it possible to update msbuild without installing visual studio?
The answer is yes, you can download the Microsoft Build Tools 2015, install it to update msbuild.exe without installing Visual Studio.
Please refer to the document MSBuild is now part of Visual Studio! for details:
The New Microsoft® Build Tools Package
MSBuild is now a component of Visual Studio and will ship with all
SKUs of Visual Studio, including Team Build so if you use Visual
Studio all of your build needs should be covered. We understand that
there are a great number of reasons that you may want to use MSBuild
and other build tools without needing to install Visual Studio so we
are making the tools available as a new standalone package called
Microsoft® Build Tools. The package includes MSBuild and the VB/C#
compilers. The new package can be acquired here on the MSDN Download
Center.
This standalone package is great for build servers requiring fine
grain control of their build process. With this new approach to
evolving MSBuild, you have more control over build behavior and are
not impacted by .NET Framework versions.
Hope this helps.
We're running TeamCity 9.0.3 and have had Visual Studio 2010, 2012 & 2013 full install on our build server for years now.
I know for a fact that we need certain Visual Studio targets in order to deploy our applications but I'm convinced we don't need to have a full Visual Studio installation in order to use the Visual Studio (sln) build runner but can't find any documentation to say whether or not we do need it.
Can anyone show me documentation or verify from their own experience whether or not a full Visual Studio install is needed for this build runner to work?
Edit: I have seen this question:
Does MSbuild require Visual Studio to be installed on the build server?
And mine is not the same question, it's a different topic. That question is asking whether or not Visual Studio is needed to as a prerequisite for the MSBuild build runner. My question pertains to the Visual Studio build runner
Roughly speaking, by installing Windows SDKs you get what's required to build applications.
Windows 7 SDK
Windows 8.1 SDK
Windows 10 SDK
Multi targeting packs are also required if you use that.
Starting from Visual Studio 2013, you also need to install the separate MSBuild 2013. And MSBuild 2015.
C++ might require you to install other bits.
So you will have to go through lots of trials. Most people simply give up and install full VS.
You don't need full Visual Studio Installed for running the build, all you need are the build tools.
In the "Step" you create to build your solution, the dropdown allows you to select which version of Microsoft builds you want to use where you can specify whether you use MSBuild12 or the latest MSBuild14 for VS2015 projects.
All you have to do is make sure that you install the required Microsoft Build tools in this instance:
Build tools for 2010, 2012 and 2013. The TC build step should then try detecting this install by default in C:/Program Files (x86)/MS Build/Build Tool Number/MSBuild.exe
Note: You will have to restart your agent after you install these tools on the Agent Machine for TeamCity to detect the tools.
The Visual Studio (sln) build runner requires the proper version of Microsoft Visual Studio installed on the build agent.
Reference: https://confluence.jetbrains.com/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=74847254
Can we use MSBuild without Visual Studio 2012?
Currently, we have a build server where we are compiling and creating deployment copy of one of our projects, it has Visual Studio Professional Edition installed. We are setting up a new build server now. Do we really need Visual Studio 2012 on the new build server?
If yes, then how? I googled it but I couldn't find an answer.
We have spent a lot of time trying to get our Build Servers to work without Visual Studio.
We do not use TFS for builds and therefore I am not sure the license exemption above applies to us. Also not having Visual Studio installed helps you really understand how your software is building and get references correct.
We have seen many examples of solutions with projects that contains references for the same piece of software with some in nuget packages shipped with the solution and others that are pointing to locations in the "program files" path which are not present on machines without Visual Studio installed. Once you attempt to build software without VS installed you can really see how "self-contained" your applications are.
Before I start listing the things you typically need to install, let me just point out that MS Build is now no longer considered part of the .NET framework but is shipped with Visual Studio but can also be installed separately. See this blog post for more: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/visualstudio/archive/2013/07/24/msbuild-is-now-part-of-visual-studio.aspx
The following software needs to be installed for most builds, there may be others for example if you are creating portable class libraries.
Microsoft Build Tools 2013
Web Deploy 3.5 (for packaging applications)
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.1 Developer Pack
Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5.2 Developer Pack
Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Windows 8 (You can use the SDK to build applications that target these operating systems: Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows Server 2008)
The following directories need to be copied:
Reference Assemblies (need to be copied from a machine running Visual Studio from/to directory C:\Program Files (x86)\Reference Assemblies)
Public Assemblies (need to be copied from a machine running Visual Studio from/to directory C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\Common7\IDE\PublicAssemblies
We also use Wix and therefore we install the following:
WIX Toolset 3.8
I have a similar set for testing however that was not part of the question so I will leave that off!
Hope this helps someone.
Update: 3rd March 2017
Microsoft recently responded to a long standing user voice request "Support .NET Builds without requiring Visual Studio on the server" for the requirement for Visual Studio to be installed on a build server to be removed.
From the description on the download page "These Build Tools allow you to build native and managed MSBuild-based applications without requiring the Visual Studio IDE." Not tested yet but after RTM I will look at this and provide a further update here.
There is a blog post that promises these build tools install all pre-requisites and can be used to build MS Build based applications.
No, you don't need Visual Studio on your build box. If I recall correctly, msbuild is installed as part of the .NET framework - it certainly used to be.
Depending on what you're building, you may find that there are some things which are easier to get working if you do install Visual Studio though - things like portable class library profiles. While there are usually non-VS installers available, I've found it simpler to install an Express edition of Visual Studio just to get the bundled build targets.
Remember: The easiest way to build your visual studio solutions is to install Visual Studio on the build server. Even Visual Studio Express is often enough.
That said, you can make it work without it. But it it sometimes a lot of work to figure out. You'll need to install the right Windows / .NET Platform SDK. You can install multiple of these SDKs side by side. Now, when you depend, for example, on ASP.NET MVC 5 or Entity Framework 6, you might need to install further SDKs to get your application to compile. The downloads for these all assume that you also have Visual Studio installed, but many of their payloads can also be installed separately. It can become quite a hassle.
Personally I've grown tired of trying to figure out which parts of which installers enable what. But that is also driven by the fact that Microsoft allows you to install Visual Studio on a build server (TFS) with the same license as your development machine as long as you are an MSDN subscriber. Check the Visual Studio License Whitepaper for more details.
Using Visual Studio on the Build Server
If you have one or more licensed users of Visual Studio Ultimate with MSDN, Visual Studio Premium with MSDN, or Visual
Studio Professional with MSDN, then you may also install the Visual Studio software as part of Team Foundation Server
2013 Build Services. This way, you do not need to purchase a Visual Studio license to cover the running of Visual Studio on
the build server for each person whose actions initiate a build.
If you, like me, would prefer this to change in the future, I suggest you make sure you're heard by submitting your request or voting for an existing one over at the Visual Studio User Voice.
Here's just a quick take on this.
Your build machine should decouple development tools as much as is possible. With that said, and as already stated by others here, MSBuild can be run independently of Visual Studio, and it should!
If your build requires Visual Studio to run then there is a very good chance that you have a solution or project architecture problem that ought to be resolved.
Visual Studio doesn't need to be installed. MSBuild is part of the .net SDK.
Other .net dependencies will need to be installed though, if you are using them. MSTest, or anything that is part of Team foundation will require Visual Studio installed.
I believe you only need MSBuild ( that is part of the .NET framework you're targeting ) .
Make sure you install the proper .NET distribution
the following is a good place for build servers it have the developer tooling.
The .NET Framework 4.5.1 Developer Pack installs the multi-targeting pack for .NET Framework 4.5.1. Developers can build applications targeting the .NET Framework 4.5.1 using either Visual Studio 2012 or third party IDEs. You need to download the web installer instead of this package if you intend to redistribute .NET Framework 4.5.1.
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40772
Best of luck.
C++ :
There is a "Build Tools" that contains MSBuild, Visual studio is not required.
From the official doc :
These tools allow you to build C++ libraries and applications
targeting Windows desktop. They are the same tools that you find in
Visual Studio 2015 in a scriptable standalone installer. Now you only
need to download the tools you need to build C++ projects.
Managed :
The same applied : Build Tool Managed
We have a C# web project authored in Visual Studio 2013 which incorporates a Database Project, and I've set up a number of TeamCity build configurations to do Continuous Integration.
Team City is working well for us at the moment with all of our code checkins going automatically into the integration environment.
SSDT is also working well for us, we are easily able to share and publish database changes within the development team.
What I want to do now is get TeamCity to automatically build the Database Project and deploy it into the integration environment.
We do not have VS2013 on the build server, and would rather not install it there. We are all running SQL Server 2012.
I have read a few questions and articles about "headless" builds of *.sqlproj projects e.g:
How to build .sqlproj projects on a build server?
These approaches seem to be quite manual and fiddly and related to SSDT 2012 - has anyone got a reliable configuration for the versions we're using?
We've got SSDT working on our build server without requiring a copy of Visual Studio. In our case, we did a full install of SSDT because that will give you the necessary components, including the Visual Studio IDE shell. It was also a bit less fiddly than trying to make the admin install point and install just those bits. We added the folder containing sqlpackage to the path and made sure that we could get to the latest MSBuild executable (part of the .NET framework). There's no need to install a full copy of Visual Studio unless you happen to need it for some other reason on that machine.
This article goes into a bit more detail: http://sqlproj.com/index.php/2012/03/headless-msbuild-support-for-ssdt-sqlproj-projects/
Summarizing that article, here's what you need:
Install the Microsoft® SQL Server® 2012 Data-Tier Application Framework
Install the Microsoft® SQL Server® 2012 Transact-SQL ScriptDom
Install the Microsoft® SQL Server® 2012 Transact-SQL Compiler Service
Install the Microsoft® System CLR Types for Microsoft® SQL Server® 2012
Install the SQL Server Data Tools Build Utilities from the Administrative
install point. (this is where we used the full install)
It's been a while, but you might be able to just make sure that machine is connected to the Internet and run the latest SSDT installer to install SSDT and all of the pre-reqs. At that point, you've got the necessary bits to build SQL Projects.